Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to a lock, in particular, the locking device of a door lock.
2. Description of the Related Art
The structure of one kind of conventional door lock is shown in FIG. 1. The door lock generally comprises an inside handle A, which is connected with one end of an inside actuation tube C, and an outside doorknob B, which is connected with one end of an outside actuation tube D. A housing assembly E has a triggering mechanism F therein and the triggering mechanism F can be actuated by the other ends Cxe2x80x2 and Dxe2x80x2 of the inside actuation tube C and the outside actuation tube D, respectively, for controlling a latch mounted on the door. The inside actuation tube C has a knob therein, while the outside actuation tube D has a lock assembly at one end therein, which can be controlled by a key to operate a key actuation tube within the outside actuation tube D. The key actuation tube includes an actuation flange G which actuates the triggering mechanism F upon rotation for triggering the latch mounted on the door.
For the conventional door lock structure, the rotation of the outside doorknob B is restrained when the inside knob is pressed down. Thus, in order to open the door lock from outside, a key is used to control the lock assembly and subsequently the key actuation tube for actuating the triggering mechanism F for withdrawing the latch. When the door lock is locked, the rotation of the outside doorknob B is restrained by the interior structure of the lock, resulting easy damage to the interior structure of the lock. Thus, it is desirable to provide a lock in which the outside doorknob B can still be rotated for a predetermined angle after the door lock is locked, so as to prevent damages to the interior structure of the lock by the force exerted on the outside doorknob B.
Accordingly, the primary object of this invention is to provide a locking device for the door lock such that the handle connected with the outside actuation tube can be rotated without triggering the lock assembly when the door lock is locked.
Another object of this invention is to provide a locking device for the door lock which is suitable to be mounted on the doors having a wide range of different thicknesses.
The primary features of the present invention comprises a locking mechanism for actuating a latch and a sleeve disk assembly for mounting the locking mechanism on a door, wherein the locking mechanism comprises: a housing assembly; an outside actuation tube having a first end and a second end, and the first end of the outside actuation tube being mounted in the housing assembly; a key actuation tube being inserted into the outside actuation tube and having a first end and a second end, wherein the first end of the key actuation tube has an actuation flange, and second end of the key actuation tube has an actuation plate, the key actuation tube also having at least one projection extending inwardly; a transmission element provided in the key actuation tube and having at least one groove to be meshed with the at least one projection of the key actuation tube, thereby the transmission element is movable between a first axial position and a second axial position in the key actuation tube and is rotated together with the key actuation tube; a spring with one end thereof resisting against the transmission element and the other end thereof resisting against the actuation plate; an outside holding sleeve connected with the first end of the outside actuation tube so as to be rotated together with the outside actuation tube, the outside holding sleeve further having at least one projection extending inwardly; a knob rod having a first end and a second end, in which the first end of the knob rod is connected with the transmission element and the second end of the knob rod is connected with a push button; when the transmission element is at the first axial position within the key actuation tube, the at least one groove of the transmission element is engaged with the at least one projection of the outside holding sleeve, such that when the outside actuation tube is rotated, the outside holding sleeve and the key actuation tube is subsequently rotated thereby; when the transmission element is at the second axial position within the key actuation tube, the at least one groove of the transmission element is not engaged with the at least one projection of the outside holding sleeve, such that when the outside actuation tube is rotated, the key actuation tube is not rotated.
The structures and characteristics of this invention can be realized by referring to the appended drawings and explanations of the preferred embodiments.